Zero footprint robotic process automation system

ABSTRACT

Computerized RPA methods and systems that increase the flexibility and lower the cost with which RPA systems may be deployed are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, an RPA system and method avoids the need for preinstalled RPA software on a device employed by a user to create and/or execute software robots to perform RPA. In another embodiment, an RPA system and method provides a capability to execute software robots that may have been encoded in one or more programming languages to execute on an operating system different than that employed by a server of the RPA system.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to U.S. patent application entitledPLATFORMAGNOSTIC ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION, attorney docket no.340-44-US, which is filed concurrently herewith, and which is assignedto the assignee of the present application.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to the field of data processingsystems and more particularly to robotic process automation systems.

BACKGROUND

Robotic process automation (RPA) is the application of technology thatallows workers in an organization to configure computer software, knownas a “robot” to capture and interpret existing applications forprocessing a transaction, manipulating data, triggering responses andcommunicating with other digital systems. The software robots inconventional RPA systems employ the software robots to interpret theuser interface of third-party applications and to execute stepsidentically to a human user. For example, many tasks withinorganizations require individuals to perform the same repetitive tasks,such as entering data from invoices into an enterprise accounts payableapplication or entering data from a loan application into a loanprocessing system. RPA permits the automation of such application levelrepetitive tasks via software robots that are coded to repeatedly andaccurately perform the repetitive task.

The software robots in conventional RPA systems execute on devices,physical or virtual, that are separate from an RPA server and whichcontain software to permit creation and/or execution of the softwarerobot. While this has proven to be highly beneficial in facilitatingdata processing, the requirement for bot creation/execution software tobe loaded onto different devices increases administrative complexity andcan limit the processing capability of the RPA system. Moreover, becausethe software robots operate at an application level, as a human userwould engage with such applications, conventional RPA systems areoperating system dependent. A software robot encoded to perform taskson, for example, a Windows® operating system, will need to be executedto perform the tasks for which it has been encoded on the Windows®operating system. This limitation can limit the scalability and increasethe cost of deployment of an RPA system.

SUMMARY

Computerized RPA methods and systems that increase the flexibility andlower the cost with which RPA systems may be deployed are disclosedherein. In one embodiment, an RPA system and method avoids the need forpreinstalled RPA software on a device employed by a user to createand/or execute software robots to perform RPA. In such an embodiment, anRPA system includes data storage which stores a plurality of sets oftask processing instructions. Each set of task processing instructionsimplements a bot which is operable to interact at a user level with oneor more designated user level application programs. The data storagealso stores a plurality of work items, where each work item is storedfor subsequent processing by executing a corresponding set of taskprocessing instructions. A control room that operates as a server tomanage operation of the RPA system is operatively coupled to the datastorage and is configured to execute instructions that when executedcause the control room to respond to a request that is issued by a userof a client device to perform an automation task to process a work itemfrom the plurality of work items. The control room provides to theclient device, software code to implement a node manager that executeson the client device and which provides to the user a visual interfacevia a browser to view progress of and to control the automation task.The node manager initiates on the client device, a user session toperform the automation task. The set of task processing instructionsthat correspond to the work item are retrieved are executed undercontrol of the user session, on the client device. The control roomreceives update data indicative of status of processing of the work itemfrom the node manager.

In another embodiment, an RPA system and method provides a capability toexecute software robots that may have been encoded to execute on anoperating system different than that employed by a server of the RPAsystem. In such an embodiment, an RPA system includes data storage whichstores a plurality of sets of task processing instructions. Each set oftask processing instructions implements a bot which is operable tointeract at a user level with one or more designated user levelapplication programs. The data storage also stores a plurality of workitems, where each work item is stored for subsequent processing byexecuting a corresponding set of task processing instructions. A controlroom that manages operation of the RPA system is operatively coupled tothe data storage and is configured to execute instructions that whenexecuted cause the control room to respond to a request that is issuedby a user from a client device to perform an automation task to processa work item from the plurality of work items. The control room initiateson the server processor, or on another device other than the clientdevice, within a virtual machine configured to execute computer programswritten in a platform independent language and compiled to a bytecodeexecutable by the virtual machine, a user session to perform theautomation task. The set of task processing instructions that correspondto the work item is retrieved and is executed, under control of the usersession, on the server processor or on another device other than theclient device. The control room receives update data indicative ofstatus of processing of the work item to the client device.

An advantage of embodiments disclosed herein is that creation andexecution of bots is independent of the processing and platformconstraints of the particular device the user is using. Moreover, incertain embodiments, creation and execution of bots is able to beindependent of the underlying operating system platform. So a botencoded with commands specific to a first operating system, such asWindows®, can be executed on a different operating system, such asLinux®.

These and additional aspects related to the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows, and in part will be apparentto those skilled in the art from the description or may be learned bypractice of the invention. Aspects of the invention may be realized andattained by means of the elements and combinations of various elementsand aspects particularly pointed out in the following detaileddescription and the appended claims.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing and the followingdescriptions are exemplary and explanatory only and are not intended tolimit the claimed invention or application thereof in any mannerwhatsoever.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification exemplify the embodiments of the presentinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain andillustrate principles of the inventive techniques disclosed herein.Specifically:

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of an embodiment of an RPA systemwith server-based bot creation and execution.

FIG. 2 illustrates commands exchanged between a client device and aserver in the RPA system of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, 3E and 3F illustrate operation of various modulesof the RPA system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a bot farm service that maybe used in connection withthe RPA system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the RPA system of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 6A and 6B illustrate embodiments of virtual machineconfigurations.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment of code translation that may beemployed by the embodiment of the RPA system in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of hardware that may be employed inan implementation of the RPA systems disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference will be made to theaccompanying drawings, in which identical functional elements aredesignated with like numerals. Elements designated with referencenumbers ending in a suffix such as 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 are referred tocollectively by employing the main reference number without the suffix.For example, 100 refers to topics 100.1, 100.2, 100.3 generally andcollectively. The aforementioned accompanying drawings show by way ofillustration, and not by way of limitation, specific embodiments andimplementations consistent with principles of the present invention.These implementations are described in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the invention and it is to be understoodthat other implementations may be utilized and that structural changesand/or substitutions of various elements may be made without departingfrom the scope and spirit of present invention. The following detaileddescription is, therefore, not to be construed in a limited sense.

In FIG. 1, the embodiments disclosed herein implement a robotic processautomation system 10 that includes data storage, seen generally at 102which stores a plurality of sets of task processing instructions 104.Each set of task processing instructions 104 implements a softwarerobot, also referred to as a bot (seen as Bot 1, Bot 2, . . . , Bot n)which is operable to interact at a user level with one or moredesignated user level application programs (not shown). As used herein,the term “bot” is generally synonymous with the term software robot. Incertain contexts, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art inview of the present disclosure, the term “bot runner” refers to a device(virtual or physical), having the necessary software capability (such asbot player 126), on which a bot will execute or is executing. The datastorage 102 also stores a plurality of work items 106, where each workitem 106 is stored for subsequent processing by executing acorresponding set of task processing instructions 104. A control room,seen generally at 108, is operatively coupled to the data storage 102and is configured to execute instructions that when executed cause theRPA system 10 to respond to a request from a client device 110 that isissued by a user 112.1 to act as a server to provide to the clientdevice 110 the capability to perform an automation task to process awork item from the plurality of work items 106. For simplicity ofillustration and explanation, a single client device 110 is shown indetail. The RPA system 10 preferably is able to support multiple clientdevices 110 concurrently, each of which will have one or morecorresponding user session(s) 118, which provides a context. The contextincludes security, permissions, audit trails, etc. to define thepermissions and roles for bots operating under the user session 118. Forexample, a bot executing under a session, cannot access any files or useany applications that the user under whose credentials the bot isoperating does not have permission to do so. This prevents anyinadvertent or malicious acts from a bot under which a bot 104 executes.

The control room 108 provides to the client device 110, software code toimplement a node manager 114 that executes on the client device 110 andwhich provides to a user 112 a visual interface via browser 113 to viewprogress of and to control execution of the automation task. It shouldbe noted here that the node manager 114 is provided to the client device110 on demand, when required by the client device 110 to execute adesired automation task. In one embodiment, the node manager 114 mayremain on the client device 110 after completion of the requestedautomation task to avoid the need to download it again. In anotherembodiment, the node manager 114 may be deleted from the client device110 after completion of the requested automation task. The node manager114 also maintains a connection to the control room 108 to inform thecontrol room 108 that device 110 is available for service by the controlroom 108, irrespective of whether a live user session 118 exists. Whenexecuting a bot 104, the node manager 114 impersonates the user 112 byemploying credentials associated with the user 112. In certainembodiments, the system 10 employs user impersonation as described inU.S. Patent Application entitled ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION SYSTEM WITHDEVICE USER IMPERSONATION filed on Mar. 31, 2019, assigned applicationSer. No. 16/371,046, which application is assigned to the assignee ofthe present application and which is hereby incorporated by reference inits entirety. In application Ser. No. 16/371,046 the term “bot runner”is used in the manner that the term “bot” is used in the presentapplication.

The control room 108 initiates on the client device 110, a user session118 (seen as a specific instantiation 118.1) to perform the automationtask. The control room 108 retrieves the set of task processinginstructions 104 that correspond to the work item 106. The taskprocessing instructions 104 that correspond to the work item 106 executeunder control of the user session 118.1, on the device 110. The nodemanager 114 provides update data indicative of status of processing ofthe work item to the control room 108. The control room 108 terminatesthe user session 118.1 upon completion of processing of the work item106. User session 118.1 is shown in further detail at 119, where aninstance 124.1 of user session manager 124 is seen along with a botplayer 126, proxy service 128 and one or more virtual machine(s) 130,such as a virtual machine that runs Java® or Python®. The user sessionmanager 124 provides a generic user session context within which a bot104 executes.

The bots 104 execute on a player, via a computing device, to perform thefunctions encoded by the bot. Additional aspects of operation of botsmay be found in the following pending patent application, which refersto bots as automation profiles, System and Method for Compliance BasedAutomation, filed in the U.S. Patent Office on Jan. 6, 2016, andassigned application Ser. No. 14/988,877, which is hereby incorporatedby reference in its entirety.

Some or all of the bots 104 may in certain embodiments be locatedremotely from the control room 108. Moreover, the devices 110 and 111may also be located remotely from the control room 108. The bots 104 andthe tasks 106 are shown in separate containers for purposes ofillustration but they may be stored in separate or the same device(s),or across multiple devices. The control room 108 performs usermanagement functions, source control of the bots 104, along withproviding a dashboard that provides analytics and results of the bots104, performs license management of software required by the bots 104and manages overall execution and management of scripts, clients, roles,credentials, and security etc. The major functions performed by thecontrol room 108 include: (i) a dashboard that provides a summary ofregistered/active users, tasks status, repository details, number ofclients connected, number of scripts passed or failed recently, tasksthat are scheduled to be executed and those that are in progress; (ii)user/role management—permits creation of different roles, such as botcreator, hot runner, admin, and custom roles, and activation,deactivation and modification of roles; (iii) repository management—tomanage all scripts, tasks, workflows and reports etc.; (iv) operationsmanagement—permits checking status of tasks in progress and history ofall tasks, and permits the administrator to stop/start execution of hotscurrently executing; (v) audit trail logs creation of all actionsperformed in the control room; (vi) task scheduler—permits schedulingtasks which need to be executed on different clients at any particulartime; (vii) credential management—permits password management; and(viii) security: management—permits rights management for all userroles. The control room 108 is shown generally for simplicity ofexplanation. Multiple instinces of the control room 108 may be employedwhere large numbers of bots are deployed to provide for scalability ofthe RPA system 10.

In the event that a device, such as device 111 (seen operated by user112.2) does not satisfy the minimum processing capability to run nodemanager 114, the control room 108 provides on another device, such asdevice 115, that has the requisite capability, within a Virtual Machine(VM), seen as VM 116 that is resident on the device 115, a node manager114 that is in communication with browser 113 on device 111. Thispermits RPA system 10 to operate with devices that may have lowerprocessing capability, such as older laptops, desktops, andportable/mobile devices such as tablets and mobile phones. In certainembodiments browser 113 may take the form of a mobile application storedon the device 111. The control room 108 establishes a user session 118.2for the user 112.2 while interacting with the control room 108 and thecorresponding user session 118.2 operates as described above for usersession 118.1, with user session manager 124 as described above inconnection with device 110.

In certain embodiments, the user session manager 124 provides fivefunctions. First is a health service 138 that maintains and provides adetailed logging of bot execution including monitoring memory and CPUusage by the bot and other parameters such as number of file handlesemployed. The bots 104 employ the health service 138 as a resource topass logging information to the control room 108. Execution of the botis separately monitored by the user session manager 124 to track memory,CPU and other system information. The second function provided by theuser session manager 124 is a message queue 140 for exchange of databetween bots executed within the same user session 118. Third is adeployment service 142 that connects to the control room 108 to requestexecution of a requested bot 104. The deployment service 142 alsoensures that the environment is ready for bot execution such as bymaking available dependent libraries. Fourth is a bot launcher 144 whichreads metadata associated with a requested bot 104 and launches anappropriate container and begins execution of the requested bot. Fifthis a debugger service 146 that can be used to debug bot code.

The bot player 126 executes, or plays back, the sequence of instructionsencoded in a bot. The sequence of instructions is captured by way of arecorder when a human performs those actions, or alternatively theinstructions are explicitly coded into the bot. These instructionsenable the bot player 126, to perform the same actions as a human woulddo in their absence. The instructions are composed of a command (action)followed by set of parameters, for example: Open Browser is a command,and a URL would be the parameter for it to launch the site. Proxyservice 128 enables the integration of external software or applicationswith the bot to provide specialized services. For example, an externallyhosted artificial intelligence system could enable the bot to understandthe meaning of a “sentence”

The user 112 interacts with node manager 114 via a conventional browser113 which employs the node manager 114 to communicate with the controlroom 108. When for the first time 112 user logs from client device 110onto the control room 108, they are prompted to download and install thenode manager 114 on the device 110, if one is not already present. Thenode manager 114 establishes a web socket connection to the user sessionmanager 124, deployed by the control room 108 that lets the user 112subsequently create, edit and deploy the bots 104.

The node manager 114 which is provided to the device 110 by the controlroom 108, in certain embodiments provides three functions, asillustrated in FIG. 2. First is a discovery service 132 that establishesand maintains a connection to the control room 108 and acts as aresource to the control room 108 for the device 110. Second, the nodemanager 114 provides an autologin service 134 that provides a vehicle toallow the control room 108 to login or to create a user session 118 bylaunching user session manager 124 which works with the control room 108to serve control room requests. Third, the node manager 212 provides alogging function 136 to provide a single, centralized point forstreaming of all logging data back to the control room 108, via thehealth service 138, which stores the received log data to a data log214.

Operation of the message queue 140 is illustrated in FIG. 3A. The basicexchange of data between bots, Bot 1 and Bot 2, that that are executedwithin the same user session is performed using message queue 140.Furthermore, the message queue 140 can be used as the mechanism tosynch-up between different code blocks or between parallel execution ofbots in the same user session. In one embodiment, there is nopersistence of queue data, once the user session is killed, the queue islost. In such an embodiment, for more long-term and exchange of dataacross different user sessions or between bots across different clientdevices 110, alternative messaging may be employed such as by use ofJavaScript Object Notation (JSON objects).

Initiation of execution of a bot 104 is illustrated in FIG. 3B whichshows two user sessions (118.1, 118.2) created on two devices. Usersession managers 124.1 and 124.2 at 301 initiate, in devices 110 and 115respectively, user sessions 118.1 and 118.2, under control of deploymentmodule 142, for bot execution. The deployment module 142 at 302 preparesthe user session 118 for execution by setting up the environment neededfor the bot execution. This includes setting up appropriate pathvariables, that the bot may call upon while executing. This ensures thatall dependencies, like external libraries, are available for the bot toexecute. At 304 the bot deployment module 142 issues bot deploymentrequests to the control room 108. The control room 108 responds byretrieving the requested bot, Bot 1 and providing it to user sessionmanager 124.1 which is executing on device 110. In the case of device111 which does not have the capability to execute the node manager 114,another device is selected, device 115 in this case, upon which the nodemanager will execute to permit the user session manager 124 to initiateuser session 118.2 to execute Bot 2. At 306, the bot launcher 144 inuser session manager 118.1 reads the metadata for Bot 1 and launches acontainer 308.1 within which Bot 1 will execute, and then initiatesexecution of Bot 1. Similar actions are performed by a bot launcherexecuting within user session 118.2 on device 304 to initiate executionof Bot 2.

Operation of the debugger 146 is seen in FIG. 3C. If the user 112 islogged into the control room 108 as a bot creator employing a botcreator 320, they may debug with debugger 146 the code of a selected bot104. The debugger 146 enables the bot creator to step-through theinstructions in the bot and ensure that it is working as designed orcreated. The debugger 146 interactively provides the state of variousvariables, input and output parameters, allowing the creator to fix anyerrors discovered during the bot testing.

FIGS. 3D, 3E and 3F are flow diagrams illustrating operation of certainaspects of three embodiments of bot launcher 144. In FIG. 3D, the botlauncher 144, upon receiving an identifier for a bot 104 requested byuser 112 (such as for example Bot 1) and an identifier for a devicerequested by user 112, accesses at 330 the requested bot to identify at332 requirements encoded within the requested bot that specifycapabilities and resources required for the requested bot to execute itsprogrammed instructions. The capabilities and resources may beexplicitly identified within the requested bot and/or the bot launcher144 may scan the coding in the requested bot to automatically determinesome or all of the required capabilities and resources, Capabilities andresources required by the bot 104 may include minimum processing,storage, communications capabilities, access to required services, suchas hosted applications (e.g. various enterprise resource planning orcustomer relationship management applications), various files that maybe required, and application programs that may be required to beinstalled such as for example, Microsoft Office® applications (Word®,Excel®, Outlook®, Powerpoint®). Capabilities and resources, as justdescribed, of the requested device are determined at 334. If thecapabilities/resources of the requested device are determined at 336 tobe sufficient to execute the requested bot the bot launcher 144continues with other required operations to launch the requested bot.Otherwise, the user 112 is notified at 340 so that another device may berequested.

FIG. 3E illustrates operation of another embodiment of bot launcher 144where the bot launcher 144, automates the process of identifying anavailable device with the capabilities/resources required by a requestedbot. At 336, if the requested device does not have the requiredcapabilities/resources then at 342, the bot launcher performs a scan ofavailable devices as maintained by control room 108. If any devices arenot currently available, the user 112 is informed at 346. If at 344 itis determined that one or more devices with sufficientcapabilities/resources is/are currently available, the bot launcher 144selects one of such devices at 348 and the bot launcher 144 continueswith other required operations to launch the requested bot.

FIG. 3F illustrates operation of another embodiment of bot launcher 144where the bot launcher 144, fully automates the process of identifyingan available device with the capabilities/resources required by arequested bot. In FIG. 3F, the bot launcher receives at 330 only theidentification of the requested bot and identifies, at operations 342,344 and 348, an available device with sufficient capabilities/resources.In the embodiments of FIGS. 3D, 3E and 3F the devices scanned andselected may be physical devices and/or virtual devices such asdescribed below in connection with FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 illustrates a bot farm service that maybe used in connection withthe RPA system of FIG. 1 to employ virtualization to provide largerscale bot processing capability. The scheduler service 402 provides forvirtual machine (VM) creation 404 and VM deployment 410. VM creation 404permits selection of configuration settings 406 where a time can bespecified when the scheduler service 402 creates a VM image (i.e.virtual device 415). VM creation 404 also permits selection of atemplate or blueprint that contains specification for the VM such asprocessing capability, and memory and storage size. A user may employthe VM deployment module 410 to schedule a particular bot to run on an nnumber of VMs (for example n=100). Embodiments disclosed herein supporta category of VM termed herein an “ephemeral device” which is a devicethat exists only for the duration of bot execution. To deploy devices,the scheduler at 412 determines if one or more of the devices requestedto be deployed is an ephemeral device. If not, then deployment service414 deploys the requested device(s). If a requested device is determinedat 412 to be an ephemeral device then predeployment service 416 isemployed to create the requested ephemeral device(s) in accordance withcriteria specified by way of a blueprint that specifies requiredprocessing capabilities, storage capabilities and software requirements,such as application programs required to be installed on the ephemeraldevice. These ephemeral devices will then show-up as devices connectedand available—these devices would then be associated with bot deploymentmetadata. Deployment service is then employed to deploy the ephemeraldevice(s). The bot farm engine 418 is a service that enables creatingvirtual machines on-demand using a native Application Program Interface(API) provided by a cloud provider. It instantiates VM's that can thenbe used to run/play the bots. The bot farm engine 418 uses templates orblueprints (pre-generated) that define the configuration of the VM thatneeds to be created. These VM's are virtual devices for playing thebots. On completion of the execution of the bots, the user sessionmanager 124 from the respective devices indicate the completion, andcontrol room 108 can then reclaim the virtual machines by spinning themdown and closing them.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second embodiment of the RPA system of FIG. 1 whichoperates to provide a generalized runtime environment for digitalworkers. This flexible runtime environment advantageously permitsextensibility of the platform to enable use of various languages inencoding bots. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, RPA system 10 operates inthe manner described in connection with FIG. 1 and its accompanyingfigures, except that in the embodiment of FIG. 5, some or all of theuser sessions 118 execute within a virtual machine 116. This permits thebots 104 to operate on an RPA system 10 that runs on an operating systemdifferent from an operating system on which a bot 104 may have beendeveloped. For example, if a bot 104 is developed on the Windows®operating system, the platform agnostic embodiment of FIG. 5 permits bot104 to be executed on a device 502 or 504 executing an operating system,503/505 different than Windows®, such as for example, Linux. In oneembodiment the VM 116 takes the form of a Java Virtual Machine (JVM)such as provided by the Oracle Corporation. As will be understood bythose skilled in the art in view of the present disclosure, a JVMenables a computer to run Java® programs as well as programs written inother languages that are also compiled to Java® bytecode.

In the embodiment of FIG. 5, multiple devices 502 execute operatingsystem 1, 503, which may for example be a Windows® operating system.Multiple devices 504 execute operating system 2, 505, which may forexample be a Linux® operating system. For simplicity of explanation, twodifferent operating systems are shown, by way of example and additionaloperating systems such as the macOS®, or other operating systems mayalso be employed on devices 503, 505 or other devices. Each device 503,505 has installed therein one or more VM's 116, each of which executesits own operating system (not shown), which may be the same or differentthan the host operating system 503/505. Each VM 116 has installed uponit, either in advance, or on demand from control room 108, a nodemanager 114. Except as specifically noted herein, the embodiment of FIG.5 operates as described above in connection with FIGS. 1, 2, 3A, 3B, 3C,3D, 3E, 3F and 4 and reference is made to those figures and accompanyingdescription for the detailed operation of control room 108, node manager114 and user sessions 118 and user session manager 124. The embodimentof FIG. 5 differs from that in FIG. 1 in that the devices 502 and 504have installed thereon one or more VMs 116 as described above, with eachVM 116 having installed thereon an operating system that may or may notbe compatible with an operating system required by an automation task.Moreover, each VM has installed thereon a runtime environment 506, eachof which has installed thereon one or more interpreters (shown asinterpreter 1, interpreter 2, interpreter 3). Three interpreters areshown by way of example but any run time environment 506 may at anygiven time have installed thereupon less than or more than threedifferent interpreters. Each interpreter 506 is specifically encoded tointerpret instructions encoded in a particular programming language. Forexample, interpreter 1 may be encoded to interpret software programsencoded in the Java® programming language, seen as language 1 in Bot 1and Bot 2. Interpreter 2 may be encoded to interpret software programsencoded in the Python® programming language, seen as language 2 in Bot 1and Bot 2, and interpreter 3 may be encoded to interpret softwareprograms encoded in the R programming language, seen as language 3 inBot 1 and Bot 2.

Turning to the bots Bot 1 and Bot 2, each bot may contain instructionsencoded in one or more programming languages. In the example shown inFIG. 5, each bot contains instructions in three different programminglanguages, for example, Java®, Python® and R. This is for purposes ofexplanation and the embodiment of FIG. 5 may be able to create andexecute bots encoded in more or less than three programming languages.The VMs 116 and the runtime environments 506 permit execution of botsencoded in multiple languages, thereby permitting greater flexibility inencoding bots. Moreover, the VMs 116 permit greater flexibility in botexecution. For example, a bot that is encoded with commands that arespecific to an operating system, for example, open a file, or thatrequires an application that runs on a particular operating system, forexample, Excel® on Windows®, can be deployed with much greaterflexibility. In such a situation, the control room 108 will select adevice with a VM 116 that has the Windows® operating system and theExcel® application installed thereon. Licensing fees can also be reducedby serially using a particular device with the required licensedoperating system and application(s), instead of having multiple deviceswith such an operating system and applications, which may be unused forlarge periods of time.

In one embodiment, seen in FIG. 6A the VM 116 may be pre-created withall dependencies, such as application 1, application 2, and two files,file 1 and file 2, that a bot 104 may need. In another embodiment, seenin FIG. 6B, the bot 104 may have all dependencies clearly defined asmetadata in the bot definition to enable access to and/or retrieval ofrequired resources such as applications (application 1, application 2),files (file 1, file 2), and access information (e.g. login credentials)to various services. Deployment service 142 can use this metadatainformation to setup the environment. This permits the bot 104 to bemore compact in size. The dependencies define resources or informationneeded for a bot to execute. For example, the bot it may need 3^(rd)party libraries, or certain configuration settings that are encoded in aseparate file and that needs to be present at a location for the bot toconsume and execute successfully. In certain embodiments, to manage andauthorize bot execution within the confines of the node managers 114,the system 10 needs the ability to disallow bot execution via any othermeans. In such embodiments, a ClassLoader, as employed in the Java®programming language, within the generated code (as a preamble) is usedto ping the local agent to dynamically load a class to execute. In case,this bot is executed elsewhere, the call to ClassLoader will failpreventing the bot from execution. This is to prevent the generated bytecode being executed independently external to the bot runner/player.Given that the bot is encoded in Java Byte code, it is desirable toprevent any external Java® runtime virtual machine from directlyexecuting the byte code.

The code in a bot 104 that is encoded in a language other than Java® maybe converted by the control room 108 to Java®, or another language, inthe manner set shown in FIG. 7. For example, if a bot 104 is encodedwith commands suitable for the Windows® operating system, the operationsshown in FIG. 7 can be employed by the RPA system 10 to convert the botto Java®, or another language to enable the bot 104 to execute on anoperating system other than Windows®. In FIG. 7, a test is performed at704 to determine if a bot 104 selected for execution should be executedby a native execution engine, in other words, if the bot 104 can beexecuted without translation of its encoded instructions. In oneembodiment, the control room automatically makes a determination as towhether to use a native execution engine 706. In such an embodiment, ifthe control room 108 has the capability to execute the bot 104 nativelythen it employs the native execution capability. If the control room 108does not have the capability to execute the bot 104 natively then theinstructions in the bot 104 may be converted in two different ways. Oneconversion technique is shown at 708 where an in-place replacement ofnative commands with Java® code snippets is performed. This involves astraightforward replacement of a native command for a first platform,e.g. Windows®, into a code snippet for a second platform, e.g. Java®. Insome embodiments, the control room 108 may have the capability toperform translation by way of an alternative technique seen at 712, 714,716, 718 and 720, which permits translation into a language other thanJava® if needed. In such an embodiment, such a translation will be thedefault unless overridden by an administrator or user 102. Theinstructions in the bot 104 are deconstructed at 712 and mapped at 714to an abstract syntax tree and then generated to target code at 716 and718 into Java® 710 or some other code 720 The abstract syntax tree is adata structure for representing bot instructions in a language neutralform and is machine readable. This allows for bot creation to beindependent or agnostic of the language in which it needs to beexecuted. In the event that new commands are added, the correspondingcommands and the associated snippet can be obtained by the control room108 on demand by from a centralized repository that distributes newcommands, such as for example from GitHub.com hosted by AutomationAnywhere, Inc.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of hardware that may be employed inan implementation of the RPA system as disclosed herein. FIG. 8 depictsa generalized example of a suitable general-purpose computing system 800in which the described innovations may be implemented in order toimprove the processing speed and efficiency with which the computingsystem 800 operates to perform the functions disclosed herein. Withreference to FIG. 8 the computing system 800 includes one or moreprocessing units 802, 804 and memory 806, 808. The processing units 802,806 execute computer-executable instructions. A processing unit can be ageneral-purpose central processing unit (CPU), processor in anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or any other type ofprocessor. The tangible memory 806, 808 may be volatile memory (e.g.,registers, cache, RAM), non-volatile memory (e.g., ROM, EEPROM, flashmemory, etc.), or some combination of the two, accessible by theprocessing unit(s). The hardware components in FIG. 8 may be standardhardware components, or alternatively, some embodiments may employspecialized hardware components to further increase the operatingefficiency and speed with which the system 100 operates. The variouscomponents of computing system 800 may be rearranged in variousembodiments, and some embodiments may not require nor include all of theabove components, while other embodiments may include additionalcomponents, such as specialized processors and additional memory.

Computing system 800 may have additional features such as for example,storage 810, one or more input devices 814, one or more output devices812, and one or more communication connections 816. An interconnectionmechanism (not shown) such as a bus, controller, or networkinterconnects the components of the computing system 800. Typically,operating system software (not shown) provides an operating system forother software executing in the computing system 800, and coordinatesactivities of the components of the computing system 800.

The tangible storage 810 may be removable or non-removable, and includesmagnetic disks, magnetic tapes or cassettes, CD-ROMs, DVDs, or any othermedium which can be used to store information in a non-transitory way,and which can be accessed within the computing system 800. The storage810 stores instructions for the software implementing one or moreinnovations described herein.

The input device(s) 814 may be a touch input device such as a keyboard,mouse, pen, or trackball, a voice input device, a scanning device, oranother device that provides input to the computing system 800. Forvideo encoding, the input device(s) 814 may be a camera, video card, TVtuner card, or similar device that accepts video input in analog ordigital form, or a CD-ROM or CD-RW that reads video samples into thecomputing system 800. The output device(s) 812 may be a display,printer, speaker, CD-writer, or another device that provides output fromthe computing system 800.

The communication connection(s) 816 enable communication over acommunication medium to another computing entity. The communicationmedium conveys information such as computer-executable instructions,audio or video input or output, or other data in a modulated datasignal. A modulated data signal is a signal that has one or more of itscharacteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode informationin the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communicationmedia can use an electrical, optical, RF, or other carrier.

The terms “system” and “computing device” are used interchangeablyherein. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, neither termimplies any limitation on a type of computing system or computingdevice. In general, a computing system or computing device can be localor distributed and can include any combination of special-purposehardware and/or general-purpose hardware with software implementing thefunctionality described herein.

As seen from the foregoing description, a computer-implemented method isdisclosed for executing automation tasks, which automate applicationlevel tasks as if the application level tasks were performed by a humanuser. A request initiated by a first user by way of a first device toperform a first automation task which comprises a sequence ofapplication level tasks encoded in a first software robot is respondedto by providing to the first device a first node manager that whenexecuted on the first device implements a first user session thatprovides a context within which the software robot executes. The firstsoftware robot is caused to be provided to the first device. Loggingdata indicative of status of processing of the first automation taskfrom the first node manager is received. In certain embodiments, thecomputer-implemented method also includes permitting an authorizedadministrator to suspend, terminate and restart execution of the firstautomation task. The computer-implemented method may also compriseresponding to a request initiated by a second user by way of a seconddevice to perform a second automation task by a second software robot,by providing to a third device a second node manager that when executedon the third device implements a second user session that provides acontext within which the second software robot executes, and thatprovides an interface to the second user by way of the second device toview and control the second automation task. The second software robotis permitted to be provided to the third device. Logging data indicativeof status of processing of the second automation task from the secondnode manager is received. The computer-implemented method may furthercomprise determining if the second device has the capability to performthe second automation task and providing to the third device the secondnode manager if the second device does not have the capability toperform the second automation task. The computer-implemented method mayfurther comprise determining if the second device has the capability toperform the second automation task by scanning the second automationtask to identify resources and capabilities required to perform thesecond automation task and comparing the resources and capabilitiesrequired to perform the second automation task with resources andcapabilities of the second device where the resources and capabilitiesof the second device comprise determining if the second device employsan operating system that is compatible with the application level tasksencoded in a second software robot. In certain embodiments, the thirddevice has installed thereupon, a virtual machine that employs anoperating system compatible with the application level tasks encoded ina second software robot. In certain embodiments, an authorizedadministrator has the capability to suspend, terminate and restartexecution of the second automation task.

While the invention has been described in connection with a preferredembodiment, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention tothe particular form set forth, but on the contrary, it is intended tocover such alternatives, modifications, and equivalents as may be withinthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A robotic process automation system comprising:data storage for storing, a plurality of sets of task processinginstructions, each set of task processing instructions operable tointeract at a user level with one or more designated user levelapplication programs; and a plurality of work items, each work itemstored for subsequent processing by executing a corresponding set oftask processing instructions; a server processor operatively coupled tothe data storage and configured to execute instructions that whenexecuted cause the server processor to respond to a request issued by auser from a first client device to perform a first automation task toprocess a first work item from the plurality of work items, by:providing to the first client device, software code to implement a firstnode manager that executes on the first client device and which providesto the user a visual interface to view progress of and to control thefirst automation task, wherein the first node manager further initiateson the client device, a first user session to manage the firstautomation task; causing retrieval of the set of task processinginstructions that correspond to the first work item; interacting withthe first client device which executes, under control of the first usersession, the task processing instructions that correspond to the firstwork item; and receiving update data indicative of status of processingof the first work item from the first node manager.
 2. The roboticprocess automation system of claim 1 wherein the server processor isfurther configured to execute instructions that when executed cause theserver processor to respond to a request issued by a user from a secondclient device to perform a second automation task to process a secondwork item from the plurality of work items by: initiating on a thirdclient device a virtual machine; providing to the virtual machine on thethird client device, software code to implement a second node managerthat executes on the third client device and which provides to the userof the second client device a visual interface to view progress of andto control the second automation task, wherein the second node managerfurther initiates within the virtual machine on the third client device,a second user session to manage the second automation task; causingretrieval of the set of task processing instructions that correspond tothe second work item; interacting with the third client device whichexecutes, under control of the second user session, the task processinginstructions that correspond to the second work item; and receivingupdate data indicative of status of processing of the second work itemfrom the second node manager.
 3. The robotic process automation systemof claim 1 wherein the server processor is further configured to executeinstructions that when executed cause the server processor to receivefrom a health service, that operates in the first node manager togenerate a portion of the update data indicative of status of processingof the first work item, the update data comprising a log of details ofexecution of the set of task processing instructions that correspond tothe first work item and the update data further comprising details ofmemory and processor utilization of memory and a processor in the firstdevice.
 4. The robotic process automation system of claim 1 wherein theserver processor is further configured to execute instructions that whenexecuted cause the server processor to respond to a request issued bythe user from the first client device to perform a third automation taskto process a third work item from the plurality of work items, by:causing retrieval of the set of task processing instructions thatcorrespond to the third work item; interacting with the first clientdevice which executes, under control of the first user session, the taskprocessing instructions that correspond to the third work item;receiving update data indicative of status of processing of the thirdwork item from the first node manager; wherein the node managermaintains a message queue in the first user session to enablecommunication between the task processing instructions that correspondto the first work item and the task processing instructions thatcorrespond to the third work item.
 5. The robotic process automationsystem of claim 1 wherein the node manager implements a debugger thatpermits the first user to step through the task processing instructionsthat correspond to the first work item to permit debugging of the taskprocessing instructions that correspond to the first work item.
 6. Therobotic process automation system of claim 1 wherein the node managerimplements a launcher that reads metadata associated with the taskprocessing instructions that correspond to the first work item, launchesa container within which the task processing instructions thatcorrespond to the first work item are to be executed and furtherinitiates execution of the task processing instructions that correspondto the first work item.
 7. The robotic process automation system ofclaim 1 wherein the node manager implements a player that executes taskprocessing instructions that correspond to the first work item.
 8. Therobotic process automation system of claim 1 wherein the node managerimplements a proxy service that enables integration of external softwareor applications with the task processing instructions that correspond tothe first work item.
 9. The robotic process automation system of claim 1wherein the node manager implements one or more virtual machines,wherein each of the virtual machines is configured to executeinstructions encoded in a particular language.
 10. The robotic processautomation system of claim 1 wherein the node manager implements a loginservice that logs into computerized services and applications withcredentials associated with the first user to permit the node manager toperform the first automation task with credentials associated with thefirst user.
 11. A computer-implemented method for executing automationtasks, which automate application level tasks as if such applicationlevel tasks were performed by a human user, comprising: responding to arequest initiated by a first user by way of a first device to perform afirst automation task which comprises a sequence of application leveltasks encoded in a first software robot, by providing to the firstdevice a first node manager that when executed on the first deviceimplements a first user session that provides a context within which thesoftware robot executes; causing the first software robot to be providedto the first device; and receiving logging data indicative of status ofprocessing of the first automation task from the first node manager. 12.The computer-implemented method of claim 11 further comprising:permitting an authorized administrator to suspend, terminate and restartexecution of the first automation task.
 13. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 11 further comprising: responding to a request initiatedby a second user by way of a second device to perform a secondautomation task which comprises a sequence of application level tasksencoded in a second software robot, by providing to a third device asecond node manager that when executed on the third device implements asecond user session that provides a context within which the secondsoftware robot executes, and that provides an interface to the seconduser by way of the second device to view and control the secondautomation task; permitting the second software robot to be provided tothe third device; and receiving logging data indicative of status ofprocessing of the second automation task from the second node manager.14. The computer-implemented method of claim 13 further comprising:determining if the second device has the capability to perform thesecond automation task and providing to the third device the second nodemanager if the second device does not have the capability to perform thesecond automation task.
 15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14wherein determining if the second device has the capability to performthe second automation task comprises scanning the second automation taskto identify resources and capabilities required to perform the secondautomation task and comparing the resources and capabilities required toperform the second automation task with resources and capabilities ofthe second device.
 16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15wherein resources and capabilities of the second device comprisedetermining if the second device employs an operating system that iscompatible with the application level tasks encoded in a second softwarerobot.
 17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 wherein the thirddevice has installed thereupon, a virtual machine that employs anoperating system compatible with the application level tasks encoded ina second software robot.
 18. The computer-implemented method of claim 11further comprising: permitting an authorized administrator to suspend,terminate and restart execution of the second automation task.
 19. Acomputer program product for executing automation tasks, which automateapplication level tasks as if such application level tasks wereperformed by a human user, the computer program product stored on anon-transitory computer readable storage medium and includinginstructions for causing a computer system to execute a method forexecuting automation tasks, the method comprising the actions of,responding to a request initiated by a first user by way of a firstdevice to perform a first automation task which comprises a sequence ofapplication level tasks encoded in a first software robot, by providingto a second device a first node manager that when executed on the seconddevice implements a first user session that provides a context withinwhich the software robot executes and that provides an interface to thefirst user by way of the first device to view and control the firstautomation task; causing the first software robot to be provided to thesecond device; and receiving logging data indicative of status ofprocessing of the first automation task from the first node manager. 20.The computer program product of claim 19 wherein the method forexecuting automation tasks further comprises: responding to a requestinitiated by a second user by way of a third device to perform a secondautomation task which comprises a sequence of application level tasksencoded in a second software robot, by providing to the third device asecond node manager that when executed on the third device implements asecond user session that provides a context within which the secondsoftware robot executes, and that provides an interface to the seconduser by way of the third device to view and control the secondautomation task; permitting the second software robot to be provided tothe third device; and receiving logging data indicative of status ofprocessing of the second automation task from the second node manager.